1909 Ferguson Cyanotype Map of the Legation Quarter, Beijing (Boxer Rebellion)

A rarity of the utmost historical importance produced in Beijing in the aftermath of the 1900 Boxer Rebellion (Yihetuan Movement, 義和團運動). This is the first, largest, and best official map Beijing's Legation Quarter (Dong Jiaomin Xiang / 東交民巷) to illustrate the events of the Boxer Rebellion (1899 - 1901) and the siege of the Foreign Legations. The map was prepared by the American military engineer Harley Bascom 'Fergie' Ferguson, who was sent to Beijing in 1900 as part of the China Relief Expedition, a multinational emergency force mustered to liberate the besieged legations and suppress the Boxer Rebellion. Produced in cyanotype (blueprint) with Ferguson's own manuscript annotations, this map was issued in miniscule quantities intended only for distribution among military and civilian officials in Beijing – there are only three surviving examples known. Due to the meticulousness and accuracy in illustrating daily progression of the battle, Ferguson's map is today the basis for all subsequent maps of the Legation Quarter's defense.

Beijing Legation Quarter

The Beijing Legation Quarter was the symbolic focal point of foreign influence in China. Following the Opium Wars (1856 - 1860) the Qing government established the Legation Quarter to house foreign dignitaries and businesses. The Beijing Legation Quarter, located just southeast of the Forbidden City, was approximately 2 mi (3.2 km) long and 1 mi (1.6 km) wide. By 1900, the Legation Quarter was practically a miniature city, as this map shows, containing the legations, foreign and Chinese businesses, churches, schools, theaters, medical facilities, and more. In all, there were 11 legations located in the quarter: England, France, United States, Japan, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. Ethnic Chinese, most of whom were Christian converts, also owned businesses and homes scattered throughout the district. In total, in 1900, there were about 500 western and Japanese nationals residing in the quarter.

The Boxer Rebellion or Yihetuan Movement

The Boxer Rebellion or Yihetuan Movement (1899 - 1901, 義和團運動) was an anti-foreign anti-imperialist uprising marked by proto-nationalism in northeastern China. The rebellion was largely a response to Christian missionary activity in China and was initially supported by the Qing Empress Dowager Cixi and her ministers who distrusted the radical and unpredictable peasant movement but sympathized with their goal of driving foreign influence out of China. In June of 1900, some 20,000 Boxers, convinced that their spiritual and martial prowess gave them immunity to foreign weapons, attacked the Chinese Christians and foreign nationals living in Beijing's Legation Quarter. Although terrible violence ensued, the Legation Quarter was able to mount a ragtag defense – which is outlined on this map. Relief came about a month and a half later in the form of the Eight-Nation Alliance China Relief Expedition, which, with an army of some 20,000, defeated the Boxers and occupied Beijing, as well as a number of other northern Chinese cities. The atrocities and looting that ensued, particularly at the hands of Russian and Japanese forces, are well documented and horrifying.

Siege of the Legation Quarter

Described by the New York Sun as 'the most exciting episode ever known to civilization,' the Boxer attack on the Legation Quarter began on June 20, 1900, shortly after the German minister, Baron von Ketteler, was murdered in an attempted parley. Recognizing the escalating situation, most of the foreigners in Beijing as well as the majority of Beijing's Chinese Christians (who were also a target of the Boxers) fled into the defensible Legation Quarter. By afternoon on the 20th, the Legation Quarter was surrounded by about 20,000 Boxers demanding its surrender. Astutely anticipating no quarter, the foreigners and Chinese Christians within chose instead to mount a defense in the hope that military relief would arrive in time.

With telegraph lines cut, the defenders of the legations had no practical way to communicate with the outside world and no idea how long it would take for military aid to arrive. Instead, some 900 soldiers and about 2,000 Chinese Christians led by the British Minister Sir Claude MacDonald, set to establishing a defensive perimeter. New walls were constructed at strategic choke points and old defensive works were shored up. The British Legation, being the largest and most defensible, formed the core of the Quarter's defense. American and German forces were assigned to the aging Tarter Wall, the primary line of defense, while the French, Italian, and Japanese took positions in the north-western part of the Quarter.

Based upon the vast numbers arrayed against them, the destruction of the Legation Quarter may have seemed inevitable, but nonetheless, the Legations were able to establish and maintain a solid defense. The Boxers, in general, were poorly equipped, undisciplined, divided, and unable to consistently work together. By contrast, the Legations' defenders, with their back to the wall, were well equipped, highly organized, and unified under competent leadership.

The Chinese Boxer army, rather than using their overwhelming numbers to push through the Legation's defense, instead focused on artillery, sniper volleys, and occasional probing charges. Recognizing the strong defense, on June 23, the Boxers attempted to burn out the Legation Quarter with a series of fires along the perimeter. The blazes soon got out of control and backfired on the Boxers, destroying many of the wooden Chinese structures surrounding the quarter, as well as the 8th Century Hanlin Yuan or National Library of China (appearing top center), a loss comparable to the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria. At the same time, the fires had little effect on the stone and masonry structures of the Legations. The ultimate result was the creation of large open buffer zones around the Legation Quarter, making it even more defensible.

The Legation Quarter continued to hold out until July 28, when word arrived via a Chinese Christian student who snuck through the Boxer lines, that an Eight Nation Alliance Relief Expedition was on its way from Tianjin. On August 13th, the Boxers, recognizing that they could not defeat the incoming allied army, launched an all-out last-ditch attack on the Legation Quarter which was defeated only by the August 14th arrival of the relief force.

Ferguson's Own Hand

Harley Bascom 'Fergie' Ferguson arrived with the American engineering division of the China Relief Expedition. He was assigned to compile a detailed map of the Legation Quarter illustrating the course of events. Ferguson drew upon British engineer Henry Edward Colvin Cowie's (1872 - 1963) survey of the British Legation (offered separately) and expanded the map with his own observations to embrace the entire Legation Quarter. Manuscript additions and outlining detail the fortification and defensive lines at various points in the siege from June 20th through August 14th. Limited by the cyanotype process, the map was issued in miniscule numbers for exclusive distribution among senior military and civilian officials. Only 3 are known to survive today.

While it does not appear that Ferguson's original manuscript survived, the present map is a cyanotype copy (blueprint) and preserves the mapmaker's original handwriting both in block lettering and cursive scripts. Comparison with other examples of Ferguson's handwriting confirms that all of the text is in his own hand, including the yellow manuscript updates. It is of note that all three known examples bear slightly different manuscript annotations, all of which are in Ferguson's hand.

Cyanotype: Why so Blue?

Cyanotype is a photo-reprographic technique developed in 1842 by the British astronomer John Herschel (1792 – 1871). Sometimes called a 'sunprint', the technique employs a solution of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, which painted on white paper or cloth, reacts when exposed to sunlight to dye the object a brilliant blue. Areas blocked from ultraviolet exposure remain undyed and white. Herschel developed the technique to reproduce his astronomical notes, but others quickly realized that any object capable of blocking light could be used to quickly and easily create a cyanotype image. By the late 19th century, the process became popular with the designers, military, architects, and engineers, who used the cheap and effective technique to quickly and exactly reproduce images in the field. These came to be known as blueprints. Cyanotyping is limited in that only a single copy can be made at one time, so it was only practical for short-term field work, but impractical for large scale printing. It is also of note that cyanotypes remain extremely reactive to light and, over time, fade or degrade, making them extremely ephemeral in all but the most ideal storage circumstances. The process fell out of fashion in most places by the 1920s, but remains in use in some parts of the world, such as India and Nepal, to this day.

Census and States of the Map

There are only two other surviving examples of this map, one at the Library of Congress, and a second at the Harvard-Yenching Library. There are two states, the present example being the earlier, corresponding to the Harvard-Yenching variant. In the upper right legend, there appears an additional legend item describing the Chinese line on August 14th. In our example, as in the Harvard-Yenching example, this appears simply as 'Chinese' and has been added in yellow manuscript. In the Library of Congress example this legend item is part of the cyanotype as 'Chinese Line, Aug. 14.' Both states were issued in or about October of 1900, but it is logical to assume that the one with the manuscript legend item (present example) is earlier.

The map, with only minor changes, was reproduced via lithograph in a reduced format for reports on the episode issued for both the United States and British Governments. Another version, again reduced in lithograph, was issued in Arthur H. Smith's definitive 1901 2-volume work on the Boxer Rebellion, China in Convulsion. More than any other, the Smith variant cemented this map's position as the definitive map of the Legation Quarter during the Boxer Rebellion and has itself been reproduced in numerous works and scholarly articles.

Significant Provenance

This map was acquired with another related map, Henry Edward Colvin Cowie's Plan of the British Legation, which was used as source material for the presently offered piece. That piece, which we are offering separately, bears the signature of 'Capt. Poole'. This refers to Captain Francis Garden Poole (1870 - 1950) of the East Yorkshire Regiment. Poole was a British military officer who studied at Sandhurst Military Academy and served with the Central African Rifles from 1896 - 1900. Poole's older brother, Dr. Wardworth Poole (1868 - 1902), was the chief physician at the British Legation, which doubtless influenced Poole's May 20, 1900 transfer to Beijing. His timing was unfortunate, as he arrived only 3 weeks before the legation came under siege by 20,000 angry Boxers. Poole, as one of the few combat veterans present, was given the responsibility for transforming the legation's 150 civilian volunteers into an effective combat force. In this he was remarkably successful. Poole's green recruits played a significant role in the defense of the legation, earning him the only Distinguished Service Order (DSO) granted during the siege. Poole kept a detailed diary throughout which is today considered a definitive historical record of the Boxer Rebellion and the siege of the British Legation; it remains in manuscript form at the National Army Museum, London. Although Poole's name does not appear on the present map, there can be no doubt that it shares the Poole provenance.

History as it was Happening!

As a primary representation of 'the most exciting episode ever known to civilization' (New York Sun), this map is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the serious collection focused on East Asia.